Nail and method of producing same



July 7, 1925. 1,545,364

W. THOMA ET AL NAIL AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME Filed Jan. 28. 1924 1i INVENTORS Ifalier 71mm (karles Tlzoma/ WW ATTORNEY a specification.

I same, and has for the production of form of bars or rods.

1 that is,

Patented July- 7, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT 0F F I C E WALTER rrromn AND CHARLES THOMA, 0E BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. NAIL AND mErnon 0 PRODUCING SAME.

Application filed January 28,

To all whom it may camera:

Be it known that we, WALTER THOMA and CHARLES States, and residents of the borough of Brookl and State of New Y tain new and useful Producing Same,

New York city, in 11, county of Kings, or have invented cer- Nails and Methods of of which the following is relates to nails or the like, method of producing the its main object and feature nails or the like from zinc.

In the art of nailmaking, as now practiced, it is the custom to draw the material, such as steel or copper, into wire, the head of the nail. being formed by spreading one end of the wire after which the nail is severed from the wire strand.

It has long been desired to make nails or the like out of zinc and in consequencev have been made and a great deal of money has been spent in an endeavor to devise a practical method of drawing zinc into wire. The difficulty encountered there is that in order to draw material into wire, heating isrequired and this together with the heat generated when; re ducing material through the dies results in explosions thereby rendering zinc wire drawing im ractical.

Zinc has eretofore been extruded in the This operation presents few practical difiiculties because such rods or bars are of relatively large dimensions and the phenomenon of snaking,

the twisting or distorti n of such bars or rods as they imue from the extrusion die is immaterial because the bars or rods are severed into convenient lengths and are therefore easily manageable. Zinc wire of relatively small cross-section cannot, however, be produced by extrusion anymore than they can be produced by drawing throu h dies for the reason of the heat generate and also because the snaking would render the wire unmanageable.

While the present invention uses the principle of extrusion it employs it in a novel and heretofore This invention together with a manner as to avoid the factors of undue produced by the passage of a constant stream THOMA, citizens of the United be shank in the own way and in such a 1924. Serial No. 689,058.

of metal through a die opening, for in our case the operation is discontinuous, each nail ing formed by a separate and independent extrusion process of short duration which not only extrudes a shank but shapes the head of the nail; In addition, provision is made whereby snaking is prevented, partly by reason of the short length of material extruded and partly by reason of the provision of guiding means whereby the extruded shank is prevented from distortion out of the lane of the die opening so that the extruded shank may be returned through the die opening in order to remove the finished article from the die.

In accordance with the above, one feature of the invention consists in a zinc nail or the like having a head from which extends an extruded portion forming a shank. Another feature consists in the process for producing this nail. A detailed explanation of these various features follows.

In the accompanying drawings, the inven .ferred forms, in which:

Fi 1 is a vertical sectional view through one orm'of mechanism b means of which the improved process can he carried out and the novel product be obtained, the parts being shown in the position they occupy before the extrusion action begins.

Fig. 2 is a view s' ar to Fig. 1 showing the shank of the nail extruded.

Fig. 3 is a view similar, to Fig. 1 showing the action of the shearing members that may be employed.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the ejector acting to return the shank through the die opening. 1

Fi 5 shows a sheet of material. from which the plugs or blanks may be cut.

Figs. 6 to 10 views of different shaped plugs or blanks that may be employed in carrying out the inventio Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the improved product with the free end of the foreground.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the nail shown in Fig. 11 with the head in the foreground.

Fig. 13 is a diagrammatic view showing the flow of the metal during the extrusion action and the unbroken am of the nail.

Fig. 14 shows a plan view of the shearing members. a

Fig. 15 shows a modlfied mechanism,

whereby the improved process can be carried out and the improved product be obtained.

Fig. 16 shows one of many possible modifications of the product. g The blank or slug from which the nail is -made is indicated at 1. This slug may be obtained in any suitable way such as casting or it may be cut The shape of this plug' is practically immaterial and may be any of the several examples shown in Figs. 6 to 10, and we merely remark here in passing that if the slug is shaped as in Fig. 9 there is no scrap whatever left over in cutting up sheet 2. 3 indicates a die having a die chamber 4 referably of the same shape as the plug. ommunicating with the die chamber is a die opening 5 of a diameter equal to the desired diameter of the shank of the nail but of less length than that of said shank. On that side of the die opening which is remote from the die chamber is a guide opening 6, the walls of which constitute guiding means to revent distortion out of the plane of the die opening. 7 indicates shearin members and 8- is an ejector entering through the guiding means to return the shank through the die opening. Guide opening 6 is slightly larger, say .003 or .002 of an inch, than the die opening. 9 is a plunger to coact with the metal in the die chamber.

In practice a slug or in any of the several ways indicated and is placed in the die chamber. Plunger 9 now descends and extrudes a portion of the metal through the die opening to form a shank 10. The end of this shank extends into the guide opening 6 and is thereby prevented from distortion out of the plane of the die opening. The cam that operates the y from a sheet asv 2.

blank is produced plunger is so timed and the stroke of the plunger is so related that said plunger does not descend to the bottom of the die chamber but a portion of the metal remains in the die chamber and forms head 11 of the nail..

The nail may be pointed by grinding, but in case it is desired to make the nail complete in the same process then the end of the shank may protrude beyond the guide opening and members 7 will then move inwardly to shear oil the end ofthe shank. Ejector Snow risesand returns the shank through the die opening and, preferably, pushes the finished nail out of the mechanism. The object of the guide opening 6 is to prevent the extruded material from snaking and also to render it possible to return the shank through the die opening, for, it will be understood, if the shank were ent rely surrounded by the die opening the friction might be too great to admit of the return of the sha The nail produced by the process is shown in Figs. 11 and 12. Attention is called to the slight central depression 12 in the head 11 of the nail. In Fig. 13 is shown a diagram explaining the cause of this depression. As plunger 8 descends the under part of the metal is forced down through the die openlng and this downward flow manifests itself by sucking the center -of the head slightly downward. This downward flow causes. the grain 13 of the metal to arrange itself unbrokenly from the head in curves toward the center and then straight down through the shank. This obviously makes for a stronger construction than that possessed by a nail made from a wire where the head is formed by crushing the metal and breaking the grain thereof. The nail also is non-corrosive, and can be roduced at a cost approximately the cost of the step of galvanizing a steel nail.

Many other shapes of nails or the like can of coursebe produced. In Fig. 16 is shown a nail 14 with a curved upper surface and beveled undersurface on its head.

In Fig. 15 is shown a modified construction of the mechanism. As there shown, 15 indicates an open face die member adapted to receive the slug. 16 is a hollow plunger having a die opening 17 and a slightly larger guide opening 18. The descent of the plunger extrudes the metal into the hollow plunger. 19 is an ejector for pushing the product out of the hollow plunger. other words, the construction here shown is the reverse of that disclosed in Fig. 1.

We claim 1. The method of producingl which consists in extruding, t rough a die opening, a portion of the metal of a blank to forma shank, the unextruded rtion of the blank forming a head, and t on returning the shank through the dieopening.

2. The method of producing a zinc nail which'consists in extruding, through a die opening, a' portion of the metal of a blank to form a shank, the unextruded portion of the blank forming a head, shearing off the a zinc nail ing the shank through the die opening.

3. The method of'produoing a zinc nail which consists in extruding, through a die opening, a pontion of the metal of a blank to form the shank,- the unextruded portion of the blank forming a head, guiding the extruded shank to prevent undue distortion thereof out of the plane of the die opening during the extruding action, and then returning the shank through the die opening.

4. The method of producin a zinc nail which consists in extruding, t ough a die opening, a portion of the metal of a blank to form the sha ,the unextruded portion of the blank forming a head, guiding the extruded shank to prevent undue distortion thereof out of the plane of the die opening during the extruding action, shearing off the outer end of the shank, and then returning the shank through the die opening.

5. The method of producin a zinc nail which consists in placing a bfank'in a die chamber in line with a. dle opening, extruding, through the die opening, a portion of the metal of the blank to form the shank, the nnextruded portion of the blank forming a head, guiding the extruded shank to prevent undue distortion thereof out of the plane of the die opening during the extruding action, and then returning the shank through the die opening.

6. The method of producin a zinc nail which consists in placing a b ank in a die plane of the die chamber 'in linewith a. die opening, extruding, through the die opening, a portion of the metal of the blank to form the shank, the nnextruded rtion of the blank forming a head, gui g the extruded shank to prevent undue distortion thereof out of the opening during the extruding action, shearing oil the outer end of the shank, and then returning the shank through the die opening.

7. lhe method of producing .a zinc nail which consists in severing a blank from a sheet of zinc, placing the blank in a die chamher in line with a die opening, extrudthe metal of the blank to form in throu h the die opening, a portion of th% metal gfthe blank to form unextruded portion of the blank forming a head, guiding the extruded shank to prevent undue distortionihereof out of the plane of the die opening during the extruding action, andthen returning the shank through the die opening.

8. The method of producing a zinc nail which consists in severing a blank froma sheet of zinc, placing the blank in adie chamber in line with a die opening, extruding, through the die opening, a portion of a shank, the unextruded portion of the blank forming a head, guiding the extruded shank to prevent undue distortion thereof out of the plane of the die opening during the extruding action, shearing off the outer end of the" shank, and then returning the shank through the die opening. 9. As a new article of manufacture a zlnc nail having a head from which'extends an extruded portion forming a shank.

Signed at New York city, in the borough of Brooklyn county of Kings and State of New York, this 21st day of January, 1924.

WALTER THOMA.

CHARLES THOMA.

a shank, the I 

